Safety controllable driving mechanism



J. M. MINKOW SAFETY CONTROLLABLE DRIVING MECHANISM Nov. 19, 1940.

Filed April 14, 1959 S x ,s /7

Nimh

. *N l' v muy Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UETE STA SAFETY CGNTROLLABLEDRIVING M'ECHANISMI Application April 14, 1939, Serial No. 267,897

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a driving mechanism.

The object of the invention is to provide a driving mechanism having asa part thereof a safety controlled power transmission.

A further object of the invention is to provide a driving mechanism foruse in connection with any type of machine for which it may be foundapplicable, and having as a part thereof a safety controlled powertransmission controlled from an element of the machine to render saidtransmission inactive When an obstacle, such as the finger or hand of anoperator interferes with the movement of such element thereby providingan element of safety and prevent injury to the operator.

Further objects of the invention is to provide, in a manner ashereinafter set forth a mechanism for the purpose referred to which isoomparatively simple in its construction and arrangement, strong,durable, compact, readily assembled, thoroughly efficient in use for thepurpose intended thereby, conveniently installed with respect to themachine with which it is to be employed, and comparatively inexpensiveto set up.

Embodying the objects aforesaid and others which may hereinafter appear,the invention consists of the novel construction, combination andarrangement of parts as will be more specifically referred to andillustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown one embodimentof the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variationsand modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of theinvention as claimed.

The invention is shown by Way of example in connection with a wirestitching machine, but it is to be understood that a driving mechanism,in

accordance with the invention is for use in connection with any type ofmachine for which it may be found applicable.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary View in longitudinal section of aWire-stitching machine showing the adaptation therewith of a drivingmechanism in accordance with this invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary View on line 2--2, Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a detail illustrating the position of the controllingplunger of the cam actuated spring controlled controlling structure withrelation to its actuating cam at the beginning and end of the cycle ofthe main driving means.

There is shown by way of example a prime mover in the form of arotatable element I provided one side thereof with a ratchet 2 formedwith any number of teeth 3 preferably eight.

The element I is driven from any suitable source and is loosely confinedon the main shaft 4 of the driving mechanism. The latter includes a disc5 which is xedly secured to shaft 4 in juxtaposition to the ratchet 2.That face of the disc 5 5 which opposes the ratchet 2 has pivotallysupported therefrom a spring controlled clutching pawl 6 of a formcorresponding to that of the clutching pawl 'I shown by Figure 2. Thepawl Ii` permanently tends to engage a tooth 3 of ratchet 10 2 for thepurpose of clutching the element I to the shaft il for driving thelatter. The pawl Ii is normally held free of the ratchet 2 by a springcontrolled slidably mounted plunger 3 which constitutes a latchingmember. The plunger is shifted from latching position relative to pawl 6by a foot tread operated means, not shown or by an electrically operatedpulling means, not shown. The drawing indicates that the inner end ofplunger is to be attached to a foot pedal. The shaft I is mounted inbearings 9 arranged in the body I of the wire stitching machine, and thehub II of disc 5 is arranged in juxtaposition to one end of said bodyand is fixed, as at I 2 to shaft 4.

The inner end of shaft I has xed thereto a power transmitting gear I3having its side face I4 provided with a cam surface I5 for a purpose tobe referred to. Means for retaining gear I3 on shaft I is indicated atIB.

Arranged adjacent to and spaced from the gear I3, as well as extendinglaterally in opposite directions relative to the gear I3 is a safetycontrolled power transmission shaft II carrying at its forward end agear I8 and a disc I9 carrying an eccentric pin 2o. The gear I8 isemployed for operating the Wire feed mechanism, not shown of thestitching machine. The disc I9 and pin 20 are employed for operating thestaple forming and driving means, not shown of the wire stitchingmachine.

The transmission shaft I'I is mounted in bearings 2I arranged inpartitions 22, 23. 'I'he shaft I'I extends forwardly from the partition23. This statement also applies to the forward bearing 2i. 'I'hepartition 22 at one side is formed with an annular extension 2li inwhich a portion of the rear bearing is mounted. Fixed on the rear end ofthe shaft I'I and abutting the extension 24 is a retaining collar 2 5secured to shaft I1. Revolubly mounted on the shaft I'I' is a pair ofspaced bushings 26, 2l disposed in endwise spaced relation and thesebushings are Xed to the inner face of a clutch gear 28 consisting of asleeve 29 provided at one end with a gear 30 and at its other end with asingle tooth ratchet 3|. The tooth of ratchet 3l is indicated at 32 andis disposed on the diametric center of the ratchet. Leading to the innerend of the tooth 32 is a flat surface 33 formed on the outer peripheryof the ratchet 3|. The tooth 32 everhangs the surface 33. The outer endsof the bushings 26, 2l align with the end edges of the sleeve 29. Thebushing 25 abuts a bearing 2|.

Il by any suitable means, such as the pin 34 is a disc 35 which abutsone end of the forward bearing ZI mounted on shaft Il. The'other end ofsuch bearing 2| abuts the gear I3. One facey of the disc 35 opposes oneside face of the ratchet 3|. The disc 35 is of greater diameter thantheV diameter of ratchet 3|. Pivotally mountedon a pin 35, carried bythat side face of disc 35 which opposes a side face of ratchet 3| is thespring controlled pawl 1. The latter at one end is formed with aclutching nose 3l having an edge surface 38 corresponding-to the surfaceof the tooth 32.

The outer edge of the Vpawl l is formed with a groove 39 and aprotuberance 43 extending beyond the mouth of the groove.

The gears I3; 30 constitute a multiplying gearing having ratio of 2to 1. The gear I3 being the gear of the greater diameter of the saidgearing.

There is associated with the pawl 'I a releasing plunger 4l therefor.Plunger 4| is slidably mounted in an openingy 42 formed in the machinebody and has one side thereof formed with a lengthwise row of teeth '43which opposes an opening 44 formed in the machine body. 'Ihe plunger 4Iis capable of being shifted in opposite ydirections to and from the pawll. When shifted in the pafth of the vpawl 1 it engages in the groove 33and coacts with the protuberance 45 for shifting pawl 'I from-clutchingengagement with the ratchet 3|.V When plunger 4i is shifted in adirection from yengagement with the pawl the latter is released and 'thecontrolling spring for the pawl tends to move the rnose 38 of the pawlin a direction to be positioned in the path of the tooth 38" oftheratchet 3|, whereby the coaction of the tooth 32 and nose 38 will clutchthe shaft I'I'withthe clutch gear 28 t0 provide for the operation ofthestitching machine to form, drive and clinch the staples. in the machinebody is a vertically movable ring guard or'foot explorere structure 45having as an element thereof a vertically movable slide rod 43 providedlengthwise thereof on one side with a row of teeth 4l. The structure 45is lowered on the operation of the shaft 4. To provide for the elevatingand lowering of the structure 55 an body. The lever member 48 includesan arm 53 formed'at its outer end with a curved rack 5I disposed uponthe segment of a circle and engageable with the teeth 47. The levermember 43 further includesv an arm 52 having its outer end toothed, asat 53 which engages with the teethon the plunger 4I; The teeth 53 aredisposed upon the segment of a circle. The lever member 4B furtherincludes an arm 54 for a purpose to be referred to. The arms 52, 54aredisposed tandemwise, that is to Vsay arranged in endwisealignedrelation. The arm I! is disposed at `right angles to the arms 53,54. The arm 53 is disposed in the path of a spring controlled plunger 55slidably mounted in the machine body. The arm 54 is disposedin the pathof a controlling plunger 56 controlled by the cam surface I5. Theplunger 56 at onefend has pivotally mountedv Secured, to the shaftSlidably mounted therein a roller 51 which coacts with the cam surfacel5 for controlling the position of the plunger 53.

The arm 55 of the lever t8 engages with the rod 35 and acts to elevateand lower such rod.

'I'he arm 52 engages with the plunger 4| for shifting it to and fromengagement with the pawl The arm 55 coacts with the plunger 55 toprovide for the pivoting of the lever 48 in a direction to provide forarm 53, elevating rod i3 and to provide for the arm 53 moving theplunger 4I to engage the pawl l. rThe moving of the arms 55, 53 in thedirection as shown in Figure 1 is against the action of the springcontrolled plunger 55. When the roller 57| rides on the low stretch ofthe cam surface i5 the plunger 55 acts to shift lever 43 in the oppositedirection to provide for arm 52 to move plunger 4I from engagement withthe pawl 'I and to lower the rod i5 of the structure 45.

On the starting of the machine the controlling plunger 55 will be in theposition shown in Figure 3 and the pungers fil, 55 and the lever 43 willbe in a position as shown in Figure 1. On the operation of the mainshaft 4 the controlling plunger 55 will be moved in a direction towardsthe gear I3 due to the fact that the roller 5l is moving down the lowpart of cam surface I5 and the action of the plunger 55 on arm 53 willcause arm 54 to move plunger 55 towards gear I3, and due to arm 43 beingmoved by plunger 55 'the plunger 4i 4will be shifted from engagementwith the pawl 'i to permit of the latter for clutching of the ratchet 3ito the transmission shaft Vl. Further the arm 55 will lower thestructure 55, but if there is an obstacle interposed in the downwardpath of the structure 55, arresting the downward movement thereof theplunger it will not be shifted a sufficient distance to release the pawl'i thereby preventing the operation of the transmission shaft Il.

On the start of operation of the parts of the mechanism the ratchet 3lis in the position as shown in Figure 2 with respect to pawl l. Vlhenplunger 3 is retracted from engagement with pawl 5 the main shaft 5 willmake one complete revolutien. During the first part of such revolutionstructure 451s caused to be lowered through the action of arm 53. Thetime allo-wed for this aforesaid Aoperation would be 90 of revolution ofthe main shaft li. the sleeve 23 will revolve 180 which would positionthe tooth 32 directly in line with nose 38 of the pawl l. If thestructure 55 is allowed to move in'a downward position unobstructedplunger 4I will be ejected entirely clear of engagement with pawl l.This will cause nose 33 of pawl l to engage with the tooth 32 and causetransmission shaft il' to` make one complete revolution. During thisrevolution cam l5 has caused plunger 56 to operate on arm 53 and raisethe ystructure 45.-

When the pawl "i, after making its revolution' strikes the plunger il itis disengaged from the ratchet 3i. The plunger 4l is moved to a positionto engage the pawl l' by the action of the cam surface upon the plunger55 which rocks lever i3 in a direction to provide for arm 53r to shiftplunger'i to the position shown in Figure 1. Up to this point the mainshaft l has revolved 270. The balance of 90 of vrevolution of shaft 4 isused to return the tooth 32 to the original starting position as shownin Figure 2. In the interruption of the downward movement of thestructure 45, which has beenapplied thereto on the operation of'the mainshaftliand which'is due to the interposition of an obstacle in thedownward path of the structure 45, such as the finger or hand of anoperator the mechanism will then be controlled in a manner to set-up asafe guard element to prevent injury to the operator and such safe guardelement consists in the elements of the mechanism which are associatedwith the main drive shaft lifrom shifting the plunger 4I out ofengagement with the pawl l, which results in the non-activity of thepower transmission shaft il. The manner in which the parts, which areassociated with the main shaft 4 operate to set-up the safe guard hasbeen heretofore referred to.

As is well known in a wire staple forming and driving machine a holderfor supporting the Work to be stapled is arranged below the stapleforming and driving devices of the machine. The holder in mostinstances' provides means for clinching the staple. The foot explorer asreferred to is to be arranged in the operative path or adjacent to theoperative path of the said staple forming and driving device. Thestructure 45 may also be termed a controlling element for the actuableelements or mechanisms of the stitching machine.

What I claim is:

l. In a controllable driving mechanism for a machine of that typeincluding a shiftable controlling element, the combination of arevoluble normally latched main driving means operable from a primemover, a-revoluble normally inactive driven structure for actuatingother elements of the machine with which said mechanism is associated, arevoluble power transmission means encompassing said driven structureoperated from said driving means for operating said driven structure,said power transmission means and driven structure having controllableengageable parts coacting at a point during a part of the firstrevolution of said transmission means to provide for the operation ofsaid driven structure by said power transmission means, said maindriving means and power transmission means having coacting parts toconstitute a speed multiplier to increase the ratio of said transmissionmeans and driven structure with respect to said driving means, and meansoperated from the main driving means for shifting said controllingelement in opposite directions and including a shiftable part, when saidshiftable controlling element moving in one direction meets with anobstruction acting to hold said coacting engageable parts out ofengagement to prevent the operation of said driven structure from saidtransmission means during the operation of the latter and said maindriving means.

2. In a controllable driving mechanism for a machine of that typeincluding a shiftable controlling element, the combination of a normallyrevoluble latched main driving means operable from a prime mover, arevoluble driven shaft for actuating other elements of the machine Withwhich said mechanism is associated, a revoluble power transmission meansoperated from said driving means encompassing and for operating saiddriven shaft, said power transmission means and driven shaft havingcontrollable engageable parts coacting at a point during a part of thefirst revolution of said transmission means to provide for the operationof said driven shaft by said power transmission means, said main drivingmeans and power transmission means having coacting parts to -constitutea speed multiplier to increase the ratio of said driven shaft andtransmission means with respect to said driving means, and camcontrolled spring actuated means operated from the main driving meansfor shifting said controlling element in opposite directions andincluding a shiftable slidable part, when said shiftable controllingelement moving in one direction meets with an obstruction to hold saidcoacting engageable parts out of engagement to prevent the operation ofsaid .driven shaft from said transmission means without discontinuingthe operation of the latter and said main driving means.

3. In a controllable driving mechanism for a wire stitching machine ofthat type including a downwardly movable foot explorer for locatingobstructions in the operative path of the staple former or driverbetween the latter and the work support of the machine, the combinationof a latchable main driving means operated from a prime mover, a drivenmeans including a rotatable element operated from said driving means anda shaft disposed in coaxial relation with said rotatable element foractuating other elements of the machine, said rotatable element andshaft including coacting interengageable parts to provide for theoperation of said rotatable element and shaft in unison, shiftable meansfor controlling the interengaging and disengaging of such parts, and acam actuated spring controlled structure operated from said drivingmeans common to and for shifting said shift'able controlling means andthe foot explorer in opposite directions and including means when saidexplorer meets with an obstruction for holding said shiftablecontrolling means in a position to prevent the engagement of such partswhereby the operation of said shaft is prevented without discontinuingthe operation of the rotatable element and main driving means.

4. A controllable driving mechanism for a Wire stitching machine of thattype including a downwardly movable shiftable foot explorer for locatingobstructions in the operative path of the staple former or driverbetween the latter and the work support of the machine, the combinationof a latchable main driving means operated from a prime mover, a drivenmeans including a rotatable element operated from said driving means anda shaft disposed in coaxial relation with said rotatable element foractuating other elements of the machine, said rotatable element and maindriving means having coacting interengaging means to constitute a speedmultiplier to increase the ratio of said shaft and rotatable elementwith respect to the driving means, said rotatable element and said shaftincluding coacting interengageable parts made active after a part of arevolution of said rotatable element to provide for said rotatableelement and shaft operating in unison, shiftable means for controllingthe interengaging and disengaging of such parts, and a cam actuatedspring controlled structure operated from said driving means andincluding a lever common to said shiftable controlling means and thefoot explorer for moving them in opposite directions and providing, whensaid explorer meets with an obstruction in one direction of its movementfor holding said shiftable controlling means in a position to preventthe engagement of said parts whereby the operation of said shaft isprevented without discontinuing the operation of said rotatable elementand driving means.

5. In a controllable driving mechanism for a machine of that typeincluding the combination of a shiftable controlling element, a maindriving means operable fromV a prime mover, a' driven'.

structure Vfor actuating other elements of the machine with which saidmechanism is associated, a power transmission means operated from saiddriving means for operating ysaid driven structure,

said power transmission means and driven struc; ture having controllablecoacting interengaging parts made active after a part revolution ofsaidv transmission means to provide for said transmission means andstructure operating in unison,

f plunger for controlling said coacting interengaging parts and a camcontrolled and spring actuated means operated from the said main drivingmeans for shifting said plunger and controlling element in oppositedirections and' including means controlled from said element when thelatter meets with an obstruction for holding said plunger at a positionto maintain said co-acting engageable parts out of engagement to preventthe operation of said driven structure from said transmission meansWithout discontinuing the operation of the latter and said main drivingmeans.

6. In a controllable driving mechanism for a machine of that typeincluding an o-ppositely slidable controlling element, the combinationof a drivenr structure for operating the machine, a revoluble powertransmission for said shaft, said transmission and shaft being disposedin coaxial relation and said transmission being normally .i free ofconnection With said shaft, said shaft and transmission havingcontrollable correlated engageable parts for clutching the transmissionto said shaft to provide for the operation of the latter, a drive shaft,a multiplying gearingibetween the drive shaft and the transmissionproviding for theoperatio'n ofthe latter, aslidably'mounted plungercontrolling the said correlatedvengageable parts, and a cam controlledspring actuated" means operated from said multiplying gearing forshifting said plunger and controlling element in opposite' directionsand acting to move Asaid plunger in a direction to hold saidcorrelatedengageable parts out of engagement to preventv the operationof the driven shaft from the transmission, during the operation of saidtransmis--V sion and driving shaft When said shiftable controllingelement moving in one direction meets with an obstruction.

'1. In a controllable driving mechanism for a machine of that typeincluding an oppositely slidable controlling element, a combination ofthe driven shaft for operating the machine, a rotatable powertransmission driving said shaft, said' transmission being mounted aboutand normally free of connection with said shaft, said transmissionincluding a gear, a drive shaft, a gear on said shaft meshing with andof greater diameter than the gear on .the transmission shaft, saiddriven shaft and transmission having controllable correlated engageableparts for clutching the transmission to said driven shaft to providefor` the operation of the latter, a plunger for controlling the saidcorrelated engageable parts, a spring controlled pivoted leverA commonto and for shifting said plunger and controlling element in oppositedirections, a lslidable member for shifting said lever against theaction of its controlling spring, and cam means carriedwith the gear onsaid drive shaft and coacting with said member to provide said levershifting said plunger in a direction to prevent the coaction of saidcorrelated engaging parts when said controlling element moving in onedirection meets with an obstruction.

JULIUS M. MTINKOW.

